


Young God

by kimbleefucker (hihowareya)



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: F/M, but you all know what you signed up for, i mean basic guzma-trope things, mentions of childhood trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2019-02-15 23:03:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13041354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hihowareya/pseuds/kimbleefucker
Summary: yet another guzma/reader story where you make him your new roommate and learn about his edgy past while becoming closer. spoilers for ultra sumo i guess since it's after the rainbow rocket arc and that's mentioned a few times.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Listen I know there are like a million and one Guzma/Reader things out there and 90% of them are angst Guzma-your-new-roomie style but that doesn't mean there can't be one million and two and I completely intend to saturate this market.
> 
> The team here is just gonna be a rehash of my ultra sumo team, because I mean why write another when we all know these are basically self insert proxies lol...
> 
> This is my first real time writing Guzma in a serious sense so hopefully it translated well lmfao. This was sort of a last minute thing I did since I read through all the ones on here and just played through Ultra SUMO, so if ya'll like it lmk and I'll keep at it while I'm inspired.
> 
> The title was literally chosen by putting my Guzma playlist on shuffle and Young God by Halsey was the one that came up, so.

 

Sudden adverse weather in Alola wasn't common, but it wasn't unknown either. Ever since the wormholes had started cropping up, it wasn't unheard of for normally stable areas to suddenly experience weather extremes that would dissipate not long after and seem like they hadn't ever even occurred. It didn't matter where or when, and Alolan natives had quickly become incredibly capable of dealing with whatever came up.

So when a misplaced blizzard struck Melemele island, the residents acclimated to the weather surprisingly quickly. Truly, Alola was a region of adaptable people and pokemon, and you'd learned that very well since your moving from Kanto. Occasionally you missed your hometown of Lavender town, but your mom wasn't keen on the direction the municipal had taken. The demolition of the pokemon tower for... some radio tower? It was insulting. Alola was a region that would have never allowed for that, and since your mom already had family connections here (your dad's side was Kantonian), it just seemed appropriate to move away from a region that was forsaking tradition. Especially since you'd already been champion in Kanto and Johto, and now had recently been crowned champion of Alola; the opportunities seemed endless.

You sat in your living room watching the snow fall heavily on the tropical island, knowing that when conditions were a little safer, you'd be out searching for the wormhole and UB causing the disturbance to begin with. You were pulled from your thoughts when the phone rang, and you walked into the kitchen to take it off the hook and watch the screen, where your mom's face came on.

“Oh, I'm so glad you're home (y/n), I was worried you'd be out there in that mess!” She smiled, relieved, though she knew you were more than capable of taking care of yourself.

“Nah, I'm gonna wait until it gets a little easier to navigate before I head out.” You looked out the window to watch the white out conditions blow against the glass panes.

“That's good, you be safe. I just wanted to let you know that because of the weather, I'm going to be a bit late coming home- it probably won't be for another week or so. Will you be alright by yourself?” your mom smiled but you could see the concern in her eyes. Just below the view of the webcam, you could see her meowth's ears wiggle, listening to your voice.

"I'll be okay, I think the champion of Alola can handle a little snow... I've got my pokemon with me.” you held up a pokeball and smiled at your mom, her concern appreciated. She laughed.

“I thought so, I just wanted to make sure. There should be plenty of food there, but if you need anything, I'll be transferring some money into your account. Better safe than sorry!” You had told your mom more than a few times that she didn't need to help you out financially, being champion was an exceedingly well paying job, but she insisted on helping you anyway. You felt lucky to have such a compassionate parent.

“Thanks mom... don't worry about me, I'll be fine.”

“I'm glad to hear it! Well, your aunt and I are going to have some tea and go to bed. It's 10 PM here, but only 3 PM for you! Time zones sure are funny. If you need anything, you call me alright?”

“You got it mom, good night.”

“Goodnight honey.” And with that the screen clicked back to the screensaver of a voltorb floating across the screen and bouncing off the edges. You decided now would be as good a time as any to feed your hungry pokemon. Releasing them, your kitchen suddenly seemed a bit more cramped. Sylveon shook and trilled, affectionately rubbing against your leg. You patted her head affectionately. Some of them didn't take up too much space- raichu, sylveon and mienshao. But primarina, arcanine and malamar made it feel a bit cramped. Opening the cupboards you pulled out the food and started to divvy it up, only to find by the end you were scraping to distribute it evenly. And here you thought you were a bit more well stocked.

You knew your paycheck wouldn't clear until tomorrow, but luckily the amount your mom had transferred you had cleared; you'd never underestimate a mother's intuition to know when somethings needed. “Alright you guys, if we want to eat tomorrow I'm going to need to head to the store. Do you think you can all behave while I'm gone?” Your pokemon happily agreed. You were glad you'd trained such a reliable team.

Since she had finished eating first, you recalled sylveon to her pokeball to bring with you on the way to the store, in case of emergency. You never could be too careful.

It never ceased to amaze you how well charizard was able to navigate through the winds and weather like this, but you were thankful for it as you landed outside the Hau'oli city shopping district. You hurried inside, rubbing your hands together for warmth. Next time you'd be sure to dress warmer, you'd gotten too used to dressing for tropical weather.

People hurried about, purchasing last minute items quickly so they could get home before it got too bad, and you navigated the busy shops expertly until you'd gotten enough groceries for yourself and your pokemon to last at least another week or two. You thanked the cashier and stepped outside, ready to page charizard before deciding you would stop at the pokemon center before heading back to get a few last minute items only available there. It had lightened up a little but no considerable amount, so you were still in a hurry to get home. As you approached the telltale red and white building, you heard people arguing inside. No doubt some young trainers picking a fight with one another. You rolled your eyes and walked through the automatic doors of the pokemon hospital.

You were surprised when you were greeted with an empty center, all but the nurse and one other stood in the lobby. Even the shop keepers had left. You were about the turn to leave when you looked closer and realized you recognized the young man arguing with the nurse. You set your bags down on one of the public couches and decided to see if you could intervene here. After all, you did have some respect as the champion.

“I'm sorry, but as it stands we have limited resources with the pokemon we can keep here, we're just too full... and besides, the pokemon here are already injured. Inviting a violent, historically antagonistic pokemon here would only stress them out further. Please understand.” You frowned, unaccustomed to hearing a nurse find an excuse not to allow a pokemon into her care. While storms and the like did seem to book up the centers a lot quicker, normally she'd at least try to accommodate an injured pokemon somehow. You approached the two from behind, the nurse recognizing you but deciding to deal with one problem at a time. Though, you were more than a little certain if her first problem wasn't the former boss of a feared gang, maybe she might be a bit more lenient. Your former enemy took his hands from his pockets, still in his signature slouch.

“You ain't gotta stereotype him like that, just cuz' he's big and strong don't mean he's gonna hurt nobody. 'Sides, ain't it your job as a nurse to help all pokemon? You know bug pokemon don't do well in the cold- s'pecially blizzards n' all.” Even though he had a history of being violent or aggressive, you'd known well enough that didn't mean Guzma didn't care for his pokemon. No doubt his golisopod was having a hard time acclimating to this type of weather. “I ain't got nowhere to go in this weather, 'least he could have somewhere better to stay.” You cocked your head involuntarily at that. No where to stay? What about Po town?

“I'm sorry, we're just too full. You might try the center up a ways on route 2, I can't guarantee they're any better off, but it's worth a shot. I really need to get back to work now, good luck.” She seemed so quick to dismiss him, you guessed people still had ideas about former members of team skull, and certainly the guy who created the gang in the first place. Guzma shoved his hands back into his pockets.

“Tch. Figures.” He turned and seemed quite unexpected to see you, given he took a step back suddenly in surprise. “You..!!” Was he really about to fight right now? You only had one pokemon on you, even at his weakest you didn't know if you could beat him. You reached for your pokeball instinctively anyway; he seemed to notice. “Hey now, I ain't plannin' on fightin' you. Don't got time for that.” He shrugged with his hands still in his pockets and pushed past you. You felt a little guilty for assuming he'd immediately resort to violence, but it wasn't exactly uncharacteristic. Still, you didn't feel right not inquiring. The nurse seemed ready to ask if you needed assistance, but you waved at her and excused yourself, chasing after Guzma.

“Hey! Wait!” You called after him, noticing the bright red 'x' on the back if his black jacket. Guess he really was done with team skull. He stopped and only turned enough to see you over his shoulder.

“What? Now you wanna pick a fight? I told you I don't got time for that.” He was about to leave through the automatic doors when you reached out and grabbed the short sleeve of his jacket.

“You said you don't have anywhere to go...?” You couldn't help but look at him with concern. You'd been through a lot, with the ultra wormholes, team rainbow rocket... you knew he wasn't a bad guy, at least not anymore. After all, he'd helped you out more than a few times. You'd even go far enough to call him a friend before you called him an enemy, even if you hadn't seen him in a long time. He stopped, didn't pull away from you, but turned to face away.

“S'right. What's it to you?”

Were you really about to do this? Was this really a good idea? You asked yourself these things but before you could answer your own inner monologue you spoke.

“You could... stay at my place. It's not great out, and your pokemon- golisopod, could use the rest. I just bought a lot of pokemon food, and my mom's out of town for a while. It's not much but at least til this weather dies down.” The sleeve of his jacket was still in your grasp and you adjusted your fingers around it nervously. He was silent for a moment, considering your offer.

“Why? You ain't gotta debt to me. Go home girly.” He tried to pull away but your hand slipped down to grab his arm.

“Come on... don't be that way. I don't need to have a debt to help you... but if I did, think if it as thanks for helping with that rainbow rocket nonsense a while back. I'll make us some tapu cocoa.” You flashed a smile at him, though he couldn't see it turned away from you. He reached up and scratched the back of his black undercut with his arm that wasn't in your grasp and sighed heavily.

“You sure?” You let go of his arm and smiled.

“I insist.” He shrugged and turned to grin at you.

“Guess it would be rude 'a me to turn down your generosity, champ.” You turned to grab your bags from the couch, in the corner of your eye you saw the nurse give a brief look of disapproval before turning away when she saw you'd noticed. You hoisted up your groceries.

“Alright, let's hit the road.” You marched outside to be greeted with an even stronger gust of wind and snow than had been blowing before you left. You frowned, this was troublesome. You asked Guzma to hold your bags and he hurriedly complied. You tried to page charizard, but the signal wasn't going through. “What a mess, guess we'll have to walk it. You got an issue with that?” You looked back at him still holding your things.

“Me? I been through worse. I can handle this, s'no problem.” He seemed confident enough. You laughed at his words.

“Snow problem indeed.” You said to yourself, he didn't hear you. You reached out to take your bags back but he didn't return them to you.

“I got this, no big. Lead the way.” You smiled, thankful you didn't have to carry them. The walk back to route one was a little longer than you remembered, but you were able to manage. You hurriedly unlocked the door and motioned for him to go in first, since his hands were full.

“You can set those anywhere.” You followed soon after and turned and locked the door behind you. You didn't think you had anything to worry about, but better safe than sorry. A year ago you'd have locked your door to keep team skull out, and instead you were inviting the (former) leader in. You couldn't help but snicker at the irony.

“What's got you laughin?” You were removed from your thoughts when you remembered you weren't alone. You walked into the kitchen to go through the bags that Guzma had set on the counter for you. Your pokemon had dispersed into the house, but they were coming to greet you now that you were home.

“It's nothing, don't worry about it. While I put these away, why don't you say hello to everyone?” You rummaged through the bags while Guzma gave you a confused look.

“Everyone?” He questioned you, before turning to meet a wary arcanine, growling at him. He stumbled back. “W-whoa, hey now-” The large dog pokemon lived up to his reputation, and sniffed at the new guest, no doubt recognizing him from battles. Your other pokemon followed suit, giving you questioning glances and him aggressive warnings.

“Hey guys, don't worry about him. Be polite when we have guests over.” Your pokemon backed down at your order. Mienshao and malamar were more loners, and chose to sleep in your mothers room in her absence, returning back there after making sure the tall man in your kitchen wasn't a threat. Primarina and arcanine relaxed in your living room floor, while raichu hovered around you before deciding to snooze on top of the refrigerator. “Oh, I almost forgot.” You released sylveon from her pokeball, and she shook herself. More than any of your other pokemon, you could count on her to greet any trusted guests with friendliness. She approached the team skull leader before snaking her ribbon like appendages around his arm, which seemed to make him uncomfortable.

“Whats she doin that for?” He questioned you. You finished putting away the last of your groceries and pulled two mugs down to start on your promised tapu cocoa.

“Its just how she says hello! Here-” you reached into a jar on the counter and tossed him a pokebean. “try giving her one of these.” He looked at it in his hands for a moment before offering it to her in an open palm. The pink fox-like pokemon happily ate it then nuzzled his hand affectionately. He seemed to smile, genuinely.

“You singlehandedly handed my ass to me more than once, looks are real deceivin with fairy pokemon.” She seemed to take that as a compliment and trilled happily, before releasing his arm and trotting into your room to curl up on your bed. “You got a lotta cute pokemon.” You smiled.

“I love all my pokemon, but I would be lying if I said I didn't catch cute ones when I saw them.” You were happy, for one reason or another, that he appreciated your pokemon's aesthetics as much as you did. You finished making your drinks and picked up the mugs. “Hey, I got these as promised, come have a seat.” You walked into your living room and he followed you wordlessly. You sat on one end of your couch and handed him the mug, which he accepted with a brief 'thanks' before taking the spot directly opposite you on the other end. If you could pride yourself in anything, you made great tapu cocoa. You watched him stare into the cup for a while, both hands around it, as if he was trying to absorb all the warmth he could out of it. “So... what happened that you had nowhere to go?” You decided to break the silence, but immediately wished you'd picked a better topic to do so. You watched one set of his fingers thrum against the mug uncomfortably.

“It's a long story I guess.” You couldn't tell if he was avoiding the subject or prefacing it. You looked at the clock.

“It's only about 7:30... we have time. If you don't want to talk about it, I und-”

“It's not that. I just gotta image I gotta uphold I guess.” He cut you off, then finally decided to drink the cooling beverage in his hands. You watched him, and noticed for the first time how tired he really looked. “Po town, after everything that happened, I convinced the grunts they could do better than that. Kicked 'em all out, and they seem to be provin' me right.” It was true, you recognized a lot of the former team skill grunts around. A lot of them had part time jobs, were re-attempting island challenges, finally making an attempt to turn their lives around. “Plumes' is off doin her own thing. Since I had no use for it, I handed Po town over to that old guy, with the cats.” You knew he meant Nanu. “I dunno what he's doin with it now, but he said he'd take care of it.” You sipped at your cocoa while you listened to him talk. You didn't want to tell him aloud, but you were impressed with his maturity. Maybe you'd had him wrong back then.

“Why'd you give it up with nowhere to go though...” You still couldn't believe he'd just put himself out like that, he wasn't martyr.

“I did, at first, I guess. Things just didn't work out, that's all I gotta say about that.” He seemed adamantly unwilling to tell you why, and you didn't push the issue. Something about the way his hands tightened on the mug, and his eyes narrowed, you felt like you had no right to ask. You nodded and sipped your cocoa together in silence for a bit, before you suddenly gulped the rest of yours down.

“Hey, if you want, you can take a hot shower.” You said, standing up. He looked up at your sudden change in position. “It's cold out, and we just walked a ways... I thought maybe you'd like the chance to.” He stared into the mug still half full and reached to scratch the back of his neck with the other.

“Sure, if yer' offerin'.”

“Great. Finish that and-” as you said so, you watched him down the rest of the tapu cocoa like you had done earlier and reached up to hand you the now empty mug. “well, that takes care of that. I can't do much while the water in the shower is running, but tomorrow you can wash your clothes if you want.” He shrugged and you turned to walk away.

“Hey.” You heard him call out behind you and stopped, but didn't turn around. “Why you bein' so nice to me anyway? I ain't done nothin' to earn it.” Even though his tone played casual, behind it you could sense a tone of uncertainty and wariness, as if hospitality was a trap to him, that he didn't want to set off.

“I told you, it's not like I don't like you. Just be grateful I came by when I did. I'll be in bed when you get out, but I'll get some blankets and stuff for you.”

“Yeah, sure.” As you put the cups in the sink and ran the hot water you heard him get up from behind you and start down the hallway but stop. You laughed to yourself, sure he was confused which door to open and didn't want to invade the wrong one.

“Door on the right!” You called to him, and heard a faint 'thanks' in response. After you finished washing the cups and heard the water running, you made sure to grab blankets and pillows for the living room, and laid them out there. Only a few minutes later you were crawling into bed with the door shut, ready to sleep; you hadn't realized how tired you were. As you felt yourself falling asleep questions raced through your mind: was this a good idea? What kind of person had you invited into your home? What would people say? Should you tell your mom?

All valid, but they weren't things you were willing to entertain now as you heard the water turn off only just before you finally slipped asleep.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is a short messy chapter that i'm posting only because i need it to preface things in the future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> admittedly some of my personal headcanons come out here, being that guzma spent some time outside alola in a large city, castelia made sense to me. also, its from black and white which is his color scheme, so... lol
> 
> before i continue to work on this i'm going to post a nsfw guzma one shot just because i can.

When you awoke the next day, the idea that a former gang leader was staying in your home was quickly forgotten, until you wandered into your living room to find him fast asleep on your couch still. He didn't hear you come in, and definitely seemed pretty tired from yesterday, so you let him sleep. You smiled when you noticed sylveon had taken up residence curled up against him, she was such a kind pokemon. 

You pushed the curtains open a bit to look outside. No blizzard, but snowy nonetheless. When it melted, there would be major flooding and clean up; what a bother. No reason for you to go out, so instead you took to the hot shower to warm up. It was still so surreal to you, to have invited someone you'd feared before so willingly into your home. But, he wasn't really such a bad guy. 

When you'd first met Guzma in Malie Garden, you thought he was a jerk. But people who question tradition are progressive thinkers aren't they? You couldn't fault him for seeking an improvement to a system that he felt wronged him.  
Or maybe you were giving him too much credit, and he just wanted to dismantle it to be a piss-ant. Still he had come a long way, and you'd be lying if you said you didn't find yourself strangely attracted to him. Especially when Rainbow Rocket had taken over the Aether foundation, the way he barged in and told them not to mess with... you? You hoped he meant you. And he'd spent effort guarding the door for you, and making sure you'd be okay. It was sweet of him, and a testament to his improvement. Now though he still couldn't shake his reputation as a thug, if only others could see him the way you did- thoughtful, maybe heroic, attractive even... 

You shook your head at the idea under the hot water. The last thing you needed was to get caught up in an unrequited love affair with someone like that, with anyone really. You had way too much on your plate. After standing in the hot water for another 10 minutes, you reluctantly turned the water off and got dressed and went back into your living room to find your guest no longer asleep, but sitting on the couch unwilling to move as your sylveon slept on his lap. “Good morning.” You smiled at him while toweling your hair.

“S'up...” He laid a hand on sylveon's back delicately, she relaxed into his lap further. 

“Hopefully you were able to sleep okay, I know the couch can't be too comfy there.”

“Way comfier than a snowbank, that's fer' sure.” You walked over to sit next to him on the couch, noticing he'd emptied the limited contents of his pockets into your table, as well as having set his circular sunglasses on it. Next to them was a beat up wallet, his pokemon's ultra balls, to your surprise a pair of normal reading glasses, and something that appeared to be a photograph bent in half, obscuring the picture from you. After a few moments he motioned to the framed photograph on the table of you and your parents. “So you ain't native to Alola then?” The picture was taken in front of your old home, your dad clearly of a different ethnicity than your mom. 

“That's right. My mom is from here, but we lived in Kanto up until a while ago. My dad is from there, he used to work in the next town over from where we lived for some company called Silph Co.” You didn't know too much about your fathers work, only that it kept him out of town fairly often. You neglected to mention to Guzma that one day he left for work, and just never came back.

“That's whats up, my mom ain't from Alola either. I spent a while back in her home city, after my Island Trial.” He seemed to find some camaraderie in you, both spending time outside of Alola. You took the opportunity to get to know him a little better.  
“Where was it that she's from?” 

“Castelia City, in Unova. Spent a lotta' my teens there. I didn't do so hot in the island trials here, but check this shit out.” He reached around sylveon to grab his wallet, rummaging around the money-less pocket to pull out a leaf-like pendant- you recognized it as a badge. “I ain't so good at island trials maybe, but I battled the tightest gym in Unova and wrecked that shit.” He offered you the badge and you delicately took it from him, absent mindedly letting your fingers brush against his palm for some physical contact. “Like it? It's the insect badge. This guy, Burgh, he runs the gym there. Specializes' in bug types. Took me forever to beat him, but after I did he taught me some wicked shit about bug types and how to maximize the strength of mine.” 

You couldn't help but smile as he lit up when he talked about it. “So then... did you compete in the league in Unova?”

“The league? Nah, that shits way too much work. I chilled in Castelia for a while, just doin' my own thing. When I came back I joined what ya'll know as team skull now. Er, or knew anyway.” He corrected himself as he took the badge you offered him back and slipped it back inside the wallet. “I ain't got time for stuff like that.” You sighed, he was right about it being a lot of time. 

“The truth is, sometimes it's more work than it seems... taking on new challengers every day, its tiring. Sometimes I wish someone strong could come beat me. But then I'd need a new job.” You laughed and turned to him, who seemed perplexed at the idea you'd want to throw away your title. But he looked contemplative for a moment. 

“If you threw a match I'd be real pissed off. Ain't nobody beats me then goes around losin' on purpose. And that ain't fair to whatever kid beats you, makin' em think they're hot shit and all.” Your smile softened a bit at his words, and you were taken aback by how smart he sounded (through his characteristic speech pattern anyway). Maybe you really had misjudged him before. 

“Well, I guess you're right about that. That being said, I have to go answer to some challengers now for a bit, will you be okay alone?” He scoffed at you. 

“I can take care of myself, no problem.”

“Alright then, I'll be back in a few hours. Sorry, she's gotta come with me though.” You motioned to your sylveon on his lap who perked up and looked at you.

“And here we was just getting' friendly. A'ight go out there and kick some ass.” You were pretty sure he was talking to sylveon, not you. You recalled all of your pokemon and decided to head to work, making sure to dress appropriately for the weather this time. Part of you almost a little excited to get home later and talk to him more about things like that- maybe his life, his interests, you were more than a little curious to know more about the Big Bad Boss of team skull, and you'd take advantage of your time with him to do so.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> maybe you ask guzma on a date or something

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry these are short i'm working towards some hot and heavy stuff ok
> 
> also sorry for any mischaracterization i'm trying to stay within the game established personalities while also trying to go a little deeper. hmu with your opinions folks.

The trainer across from you recalled his final Pokemon, a fairly powerful Tauros, and you were declared the victor. Maintaining your champion title could be exhausting, but it was satisfying. The past few days your schedule consisted of taking on however many had made it through the elite 4 that day, after waking up and spending a little time with Guzma, when he was awake. Sometimes, you found that he seemed like he could sleep forever, like he was exhausted from just being awake. And sometimes, you woke up to find he was and had already been awake, like he hadn't slept at all and the dark circles under his eyes grew darker. You'd make breakfast for the both of you sometimes, you knew how he took his eggs, and how much he disliked milk, or that he definitely preferred waffles to pancakes. 

At night, you would bring home malasadas on your way back from work, and you would watch TV for a while and talk about the people you both knew that you saw on it. Now and again you would find the house just a bit cleaner, and smiled at the idea of Guzma doing anything domestic; your room was always left untouched however. If you didn't know better, you'd say the past few days had become comfortable for you, and you enjoyed the routine you had. You sort of wished it could just stay that way forever. Not that your mom was poor company, but it was nice having someone your own age there- someone you were actively creating a bond with. 

You shook the hand of the trainer you defeated, congratulating him on his hard work and reassuring him you enjoyed your battle. When he'd left, you noticed Kukui arrive shortly after. “Hey there Cuz', how you doin?” 

“Hi, Professor. I'm well, how are you?”

“Not too shabby. But you should feel a lot better than well! Do you know that was your 100th straight win in defending your title? That's something to be proud of!” He seemed excited for you even. You couldn't believe it had really been that long, had you really beat that many people? You were impressed with even yourself. “And I'm not the only one who thinks so. Really, we might not have made such a successful league if not for you. So, I'm not givin' you a choice, come down to old Hala's tomorrow night, were going to celebrate your success!”

You were a bit taken aback and their appreciation of you, but were happy nonetheless. “Oh, that's so thoughtful of you, I'd love to.” 

“Well I wasn't gonna let you say no anyway. And hey, I invited Lillie, Gladion and Hau, they're excited to see you again.” You hadn't seen your friends in some time, and were excited to see how they'd been and what's changed in their lives. “Say about 6 or so, we'll see you there?”

“You got it!” He nodded and turned to leave with his hands in his coat pockets then stopped.

“By the way, why don't you bring Guzma along? I'm sure he could do with some socialization.” You froze, was this his way of saying he knew about your situation? Not that you were ashamed to be friends with Guzma, and it's not like you had some love affair you had to keep secret. Who you saw, romantically or otherwise, was your business after all. Kukui turned to you. “I heard you've been helping my pal out, he's not such a bad guy, especially without that Team Skull nonsense. I'm sure you'll re-acclimate him to society.” He flashed you a signature grin before making his exit. You breathed a heavy sigh of relief, glad that Kukui wasn't here to judge you. Then again, he and Guzma were childhood friends, you were glad that he hadn't lost faith in his friend after so long.

You were excited to get home and tell Guzma that you'd be going to Hala's celebration for you, and that he was invited. Even though he didn't show it, you could tell that his self esteem suffered further when people treated him like the plague. You hoped knowing he was wanted and welcome would make him feel better. 

Carrying your malasadas in you found Guzma giving his Golisopod pokebeans as it preformed various tricks. You bore witness to its attempt to do what you assumed was the signature Team Skull pose but was uncertain how to with so many arms. Guzma laughed at it and gave it a bean anyway. “If I had any uniforms left you'd definitely pull it off.” The bug Pokemon munched on the bean in his hand quickly but perked its head when it noticed you softly close the door behind you. It hurried over to you to greet you. Golisopod had become fond of you quickly, and you soon realized that much like it's trainer, it only appeared intimidating. It nuzzled you affectionately and chirped. 

“I'm glad to see you too.” The large bug Pokemon stepped aside and you watched Guzma drop onto your couch and prop a leg on your table. You'd criticize his manners if you didn't find this completely predictable of him.

“Welcome back.” So he did have some manners after all. “ 'Nother successful day of defending your title?” You smiled and sat beside him, handing him a malasada. 

“Thats right, so successful in fact, they're having a party in my honor.” You gave him a wide smile. You had become disillusioned with it before, but your excitement for competing had returned. “Tomorrow night.” Guzma tore a small piece of the bread in his hand and offered it to Golisopod, who ate it delicately in his palm. 

“That's exciting, guess you won't be throwin' any matches anytime soon.” 

“Yeah, I got my work cut out for me.” You took a bite of your own and debated how to invite him. 

“Guess I'm fendin' for myself tomorrow.” He patted Golispod's head affectionately. You swallowed your bite and leaned towards him a bit.

“What are you talking about? Of course you're coming with me.” He made a noise of both appall and surprise.

“Are you crazy? Ain't no way I'm goin' to no party, you can count me out.” He took a bite of the malasada and turned his nose to the air. You wondered if he really didn't want to go. 

“Come on, it'll be fun. Hau, Lillie and Gladion will be there, and Kukui even said you're invited. You'll have a great time, I'm sure everyone will be happy to see you.” That was maybe a bit of a lie, but you didn't think people would be unhappy to see him. He swallowed hard.

“Uh, in case you forgot, I ain't got a great reputation around here, 'less you forgot why I'm at your place to begin with.” You could tell that even though he was acting as though he didn't want to go, he was more worried about the possible rejection from others if he did. Truly beyond his exterior, he really was a lot more sensitive than you or anyone else had given him credit for. You contemplated for a moment, then smiled at him again. 

“If you go with me, they can't possibly say anything. The guest of the guest of honor is special too, right? It'll work out fine.” You realized you were just short of asking him to go as your date, but you wouldn't be too embarrassed if he was. “Just come on my arm, and you'll be safe.” You gave him a thumbs up and he seemed embarrassed at the idea of literally being on your arm. 

“I'll think about it.” That was better than nothing. With that you had given him the ok to consider it and finished your malasada, telling him you would be back in a bit after you made something hot to drink. Carrying in two cups of tapu cocoa, you found he looked rather serious when you came back, finger at his chin and eyes narrowed, but not looking at anything in particular. You set the cup down in front of him gently and he seemed to notice it but his expression remained unchanged. “Hey... Lusamine, she's not gonna be there is she?”

You hadn't thought of that. Lusamine and Guzma had an... interesting relationship, to say the least. “I don't think so, she's probably busy. Why, do you not want to see her? You seemed pretty determined to save her a while back, I thought maybe you were friends.” The corner of his mouth twitched and he looked sort of uncomfortable. 

“It ain't that. It's true back then she acknowledged I was strong or capable or whatever, but she didn't really.” He reached for the hot mug on the table, seemingly uncaring to how hot the cup was in his hand. “I wanted to save her to return the favor, but that don't mean I wanna see her again, at least not now. I felt real used by her.” His grip on the cup tightened and for a moment you thought it would shatter right in his hand. His control of his anger was a drastic improvement from the past, but you could tell if you argued with him that might not be the case. 

“It's good you recognize that at least...” You looked at your own cup on the table, watched the steam rise from it. “I didn't really know what kind of relationship you had with her,” you laughed light heartedly. “here I thought maybe she was a cougar or something.” He whipped to look at you so fast some of the hot liquid splashed onto his hand and he hurriedly set the cup back down on the table to shake his slightly burnt fingers. Back then you really had thought their relationship was more intimate, but it had become pretty clear she didn't see him that way, and more so like someone she could just push around to do her dirty work. You felt bad he was being manipulated, but he was able to come out of it mostly unscathed, and you were glad for that.

“She ain't my type.” He stated, opening and closing his fist to test the feeling. “I mean, sure she's hot n all, but that tall leggy look ain't for me.” You felt a little victorious, that maybe you could win him over with your shorter feminine frame. “I sorta had other feelins' round then, but definitely not towards her.” You felt shy to think about it, but part of you wished he would look at you that way, with admiration. Whomever it was his feelings had been towards, you thought them lucky. 

“Well, I don't think you need to worry about that. She wont be there, I'll bet on it.” He smirked.

“You got yourself a deal then. I'll hit it up.” He seemed hesitant but reached for the now much cooler cup and took a sip from it. “Gotta make my grand re-entrance sometime.” You smiled at him confidently. 

“I'm glad you're starting to see things my way.” He raised an eyebrow at your confident beam and leaned in to look you in the eye, in his signature way. 

“Do I get the privilege of actually walkin' in on your arm or were you bluffin?” You felt your cheeks heat up at the limited proximity and his implication, you swallowed and forced yourself to make eye contact with his gray eyes. That really would send a message to your friends, the champion of Alola walking in literally arm in arm with the former leader of Team Skull, but part of you wondered if he was actually gutsy enough to do it. 

“Y-yeah I mean, if that's what you want, I'm not embarrassed to be seen with you.” You held out your arm to him. “We can even practice, go on.” He seemed almost surprised at your answer and pulled away. 

“Don't need no practice, save it for tomorrow night babe.” You retracted your arm and laughed softly, thinking you called his bluff. “Ain't it late for you? Normally you get to bed round this hour don't you?” He motioned to your analog clock, showing it was around 10 PM. 

“Jeeze, I'm not old I can stay up later... I just normally have to get up early. But I should get to bed if I wanna get stuff done before the party...” You stood up and offered to take his now empty mug along with your own, and he obliged. “Get some rest, tomorrow you get to meet the outside world again.”

“You don't gotta tell me twice.” You rinsed the cups and walked to your room. In the hallway, you stopped as you opened your door, and said 'goodnight' under your breath, knowing it wasn't loud enough for him to hear you.


	4. (AN - Please read!)

Hey ya'll, I know you're probably thinking I abandoned this- but I did not! Simply put, I have a lot of things going on in my adult life that makes writing hard. I do believe I know where I want this story to go (and others), but truth be told I feel listless sometimes!

So I've taken to cross-posting this content to a tumblr. 

If you're interested in supporting me or my work, please check it out! And as well, if you want to give me ideas or inspiration or simply talk about the work or characters thats more than welcome too! I try hard to be inspired but I don't have a lot of self esteem in my writing, so any advice or support helps!! 

Stay tuned for the next chapter soon!

https://hihowareyawrites.tumblr.com/


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